Convert me to the cult of Linux!

[Pu-239]

In addition, with QT4 being LGPL instead of GPL now and it supporting GTK themes, you can use the same substantially similar codebase for MacOS, Windows, and Gnome/KDE. W/ GTK apps you have the QT theme for GTK. So you can have decent desktop integration w/o having to rewrite the UI.

Gnome/Ubuntu seems to be the most prevalent combination for desktop use though. As mentioned above, desktop differences don't really matter all that much, distro differences are more significant (library versions, packaging, dependency names) .

Some of the dependency problems can be alleviated by packing in some of the libraries you depend on like most windows software does (this seems to be the most common solution used by commercial packages), so that alleviates the dependency problems somewhat, so what remains are packaging differences and most seriously, QAing on both Fedora and Ubuntu, which can be significant. Sigh.

I've found many commerical software is just distributed as tarballs or extractors which are supposed to be unpacked to /opt, in order to be package-manager agnostic, but they fail to place shortcuts in /usr/share/applications and request for root themselves instead of relying on the user to su/sudo first. It shouldn't be too hard to make an installer that does this and include an appropriate uninstaller, it's just nobody does this for some reason, probably assuming anybody using Linux must know how to set their own PATH and other things (this is mostly true for the commercial software I've run across though, except Skype and Amazon MP3 downloader, so selection bias *shrug*) .

[Zixinus]

Managed to get Jarte working. I only needed to copy two files over Wine's System32 folder. It's still a little glitchy in regards of GUI, but works fine.
I also found that the typewriter program I use to practise on also has a Ubuntu version, although I am a bit unsure of how to install it.

With that, I think I have everything I really wanted from the OS. So I am now sold to the cult of Linux (well, Ubuntu anyway).

[noncredible]

Well, I use Ubuntu and it works pretty well for me. Lack of compatible software is a problem, but Wine helps. Also, many programs and patches can be found in the Ubuntu Software Centre (Applications -> Ubuntu Software Centre, all the way at the bottom).

My requirements:
- The ability to match my 904HA EEEpc hardware drivers. Touchpad, wifi, integrated webcam and microphone, battery management, etc.

There is Wifi, webcam, battery management, and microphone (you might have to look for them, but Ubuntu Software Centre makes it easy). By touchpad, do you mean touchscreen? I'm fairly sure there is a program for that, because there is a program that when you draw a certain gesture (say, a checkmark) it will cause a certain action (minimizing, closing a window, starting a program, etc.), so there is probably touchscreen support.

- Good performance management, because the 904HA is netbook.

Im not really sure what that means. Ubuntu doesn't suffer from Win-rot as much, so your OS will last longer without having to be wiped and reinstalled.

- If possible, fast boot-up time. Like, really fucking fast.

Ubuntu is fast. Like, less than 20 seconds fast. Usually less than 15. And my computer is like six or seven years old, except for the fairly new graphics card.

- A good graphical front, because I have no intention of learning command lines.

Oh, dont worry. The GUI is just like Windows: sidebars, launch icons, the like. I actually modified one of my accounts to make the sidebars fairly similar to Windows.

- Straightforward install. Everything on the laptop can go, but I aim to not need a fucking wiki to understand how to get the OS on.

Meh, you might need to read the Help section to get the hang of where everything is, but it's easy to catch on to. The bar at the top is quite simple: Applications is like All Programs, Places is like My Computer, and System is like Control Panel.

- Oh, and support for hungarian characters. I just noticed that some of my files got rather funky characters when being transfered to this computer ("é" instead of "é").

Well, in Ubuntu Software Centre, there is a whole section devoted to fonts. I can check to see if there is Hungarian.

Software included should be able to:
* Editing Doc files.

OpenOffice.org can open and save Microsoft Office files.

* Playing music files, including FLAC files. I've brought a Senheisser headphone in a less wise moment and I intend to take advantage of them (like listening to the static filtering trough the AC ).

To be honest, I have never even heard of FLAC files. I can't guarantee that you will find a player that can play them, but someone, somewhere in the Linux community probably once said "you know, I wanna play FLAC files" and made a driver for them.

* Reading PDF files, bookmarks included.

OpenOffice.org can read PDF files.

* Browsing the net.

We have Firefox and Konqueror and Chromium and...

* Simple games, like chess.

Yep. We actually even have Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros with it changed to the Linux theme (Tux instead of Mario, the ground is snowy, etc.)

* Chatting. Pidgin-esque stuff is sufficient, although sometimes I use skype.

We have Skype. I don't know what Pidgin is, but there are a couple of chat clients, and I even saw an in-development MSN kit (it doesn't work yet, I tried).

[Drooling Iguana]

Just to expand on a few of fajner's comments:

My requirements:
- The ability to match my 904HA EEEpc hardware drivers. Touchpad, wifi, integrated webcam and microphone, battery management, etc.

There is Wifi, webcam, battery management, and microphone (you might have to look for them, but Ubuntu Software Centre makes it easy). By touchpad, do you mean touchscreen? I'm fairly sure there is a program for that, because there is a program that when you draw a certain gesture (say, a checkmark) it will cause a certain action (minimizing, closing a window, starting a program, etc.), so there is probably touchscreen support.

I've installed Ubuntu (Netbook Remix version) on an EEE 701 and all of these things work. I'm not positive about the 904 and I can't find it in the list of tested netbooks but you can run the OS from an SD card and make sure everything works before you install it to the machine itself.

- Good performance management, because the 904HA is netbook.

Im not really sure what that means. Ubuntu doesn't suffer from Win-rot as much, so your OS will last longer without having to be wiped and reinstalled.

I think he means power management, since a netbook would need to conserve battery life.

This depends greatly on your hardware and on how many of its power-management features are compatible with Linux's power-management systems. Linux itself is quite good with power management but if it can't properly talk to your hardware some features may not be available.

- Straightforward install. Everything on the laptop can go, but I aim to not need a fucking wiki to understand how to get the OS on.

Meh, you might need to read the Help section to get the hang of where everything is, but it's easy to catch on to. The bar at the top is quite simple: Applications is like All Programs, Places is like My Computer, and System is like Control Panel.

When installing Ubuntu on my EEE recently the most difficult part was simply getting the system to boot from the SD card. Once the installation is actually underway everything is pretty straightforward.

You might want to hook up a wired Internet connection during the initial installation, though. Some Wi-Fi chipsets require an additional download after installation to work in Linux. The download is handled automatically by Ubuntu, but you'll still need to be connected to the Internet in some way to do it (obviously.) Some Wi-Fi chipsets work out of the box, though, so this might not be a problem on yours.

* Playing music files, including FLAC files. I've brought a Senheisser headphone in a less wise moment and I intend to take advantage of them (like listening to the static filtering trough the AC ).

To be honest, I have never even heard of FLAC files. I can't guarantee that you will find a player that can play them, but someone, somewhere in the Linux community probably once said "you know, I wanna play FLAC files" and made a driver for them.

FLAC is a lossless audio codec. It's definitely supported in Linux, although I'm not sure if support for it is installed by default in Ubuntu. GStreamer (the system that handles audio and video playback in Ubuntu) is able to automatically download codecs as needed though, so you'll probably just have to click through a couple of dialog boxes the first time you try to play a FLAC file.

* Reading PDF files, bookmarks included.

OpenOffice.org can read PDF files.

There's also Evince, which is the default PDF reader in Ubuntu. I haven't tried bookmarks on it, though. Acrobat Reader has an official Linux port, too, and can be installed easily through the Ubuntu Software Centre.

* Chatting. Pidgin-esque stuff is sufficient, although sometimes I use skype.

We have Skype. I don't know what Pidgin is, but there are a couple of chat clients, and I even saw an in-development MSN kit (it doesn't work yet, I tried).

Pidgin is a client for various instant messaging protocols (AIM, MSN, Jabber, etc.) and has had Linux support for quite a while (in fact, I think the program might have been initially developed for Linux and then ported to Windows afterwards.)

Ubuntu comes with Empathy, another multi-IM client, installed by default so you should be ready to go out of the box on that front.

[noncredible]

Just to expand on a few of fajner's comments:

<snip>

Ah, thanks. I now know what a FLAC file is.

[Zixinus]

I actually tried Ubuntu and I got tired of it. My programs not working correctly, no noticeable performance change and even less idea what's happening under the hood than with Windows. So after some fucking around, I've found a system backup that came with the laptop and used that. I'm fairly happy with my laptop since.

[Marcus Aurelius]

I actually tried Ubuntu and I got tired of it. My programs not working correctly, no noticeable performance change and even less idea what's happening under the hood than with Windows. So after some fucking around, I've found a system backup that came with the laptop and used that. I'm fairly happy with my laptop since.

Everything working out of the box and knowing what goes on under the hood are mutually exclusive Well, of course they're not, but if you want to learn how things work, the best way to do it is to correct problems. This applies even to Windows, although modern Windows are so polished that unless you do server system maintenance and installations, you don't have to know much about its inner workings. Hell, even Ubuntu is very close to that point now, especially if all your hardware is supported out of the box. If you want to learn about Linux, install Slackware or Debian.